BOOK 1, CHAPTER 14 – THE MONKEY MAKES HIS MOVE

Artien and Little Green entered the cave and went back to the central cave to rest. Artien sat with back against the wall, closing his eyes to sleep. Little Green curled up in his lap. As he nodded off, he was woken by Seora.

“Wake. Both of you. Things have changed.” She said quietly.

Artien rubbed his tired eyes. “What’s changed?”

“The monkey has taken action.”

“I thought he couldn’t find us?”

“That was the case before. Now he has seen some of the entrances. He cannot enter, he is too large. He will send his underlings in to scout for a main entrance. Should he find it and we are not prepared…” She left the sentence hanging, her warning clear.

Artien frowned, feeling things were going too fast. “What should we do?”

Seora scanned him with mana, finding his current problem. “You have become good with spells. How is your mana?”

“I could deal with some more. Doesn’t that come with time and use?”

“There are ways to increase it. The more mana one has, the better. Little Green, take him to the treasury and give him those treasures. You know which ones.”

“Yes, mother.”

“After he is finished, you may take the inheritance.”

“Mother, this means?” Little Green cried out.

“There is no more time to waste, my daughter. We must be ready before the monkey finds us. Quickly, show Artien which treasures.”

Artien and Little Green rushed to the treasury. Once there Little Green dashes into the mountain of treasure. She returned with a small blue vial. She set it aside and dived in again. She repeated this, returning with different kinds of consumables. Some were fruit or plants, others were elixirs. There was even one that looked like a violet pearl.

Soon a small hill of treasure was set aside. Little Green pushed them all into the mana spring room. “You’ll take them in here. This way no mana will leak out and you can absorb it all.”

“I’m increasing my body again?”

“No. These will not be absorbed by your body. These will be absorbed directly by your mana source. You will see. Just get in here already. I have to help mother clear out that bastard’s minions.”

Little Green pushed the last of the treasures inside the room, then added Artien into the pile and closed the rock door. He activated his divine sight to see the items in the room. Sitting on the edge of the depression, he looked at the pile before him. “Where to start…”

He looked away and randomly grabbed something soft and fuzzy. Looking into his hands, he saw a round fruit. It was slightly squishy and soft to the touch. “Do I eat the whole thing?”

He hesitated, then took a small bite. The fruit was strongly bitter at first. After a few excruciating bites, it turned sweet and melted into his tongue. An energy was absorbed into his body and entered the place at his chest where his mana source resided.

His flame jumped as the small bit of energy joined it. After it burned through the energy, it grew a small amount. His eyes widened at the difference a small bite made. “This-this is cheating.”

He felt a thrill at the instant power increase. He took a bigger bite, grimacing at the bitter taste. As it became sweet, his mouth watered. He swallowed and finished off the fruit. He shuddered and winced, then smiled. “This fruit is awesome and awful.”

He waited for the mana flame to burn through the fruit before finding his next consumable. He pushed his hand into the pile and pulled out the blue vial. He uncorked it, smelling a stinky fragrance.

“Ugh!”

He held it away, then pinched his nose and downed it in one go. He gagged, a nasty taste left behind as the blue liquid turned into energy and flowed inside. He covered his mouth and heaved. “What the hell was that? No, it’s better I don’t know.”

He reluctantly threw his hand in again, pulling out the tiniest little vial that held a single drop. “Wonder what this is.”

He opened it and tipped it upside down. The little drop hit the air and vanished. He panicked, not wanting to waste any part of the treasure horde. Just as he was looking around, the air suddenly thickened. Mana filled the air and he was blinded with gold. He inhaled, feeling energy pour in through his lungs, eyes and skin.

The mana was seemingly alive, the energy rushing inside him. His body trembled, energized in every cell. The rush entered his head, making him dizzy. He fell back, trying to focus and losing badly. He opened his mouth and gasped.

“Whoa!”

His mana flame jumped and greedily sucked in the pure energy. It grew into a true fire. The fire raged even higher. The gold in the room lessened and he could make out the pile of treasure again. His body sucked in the last of the energy and was devoured.

“I hope not everything is going to be crazy.”

He reached for another treasure. This one was a red stone smaller than his palm. He held it up, watching it glisten. “Don’t kill me, okay?”

He popped it into his mouth. At first, nothing happened. Then, the stone started vibrating gently while releasing a cooling sensation. The sensation followed as energy was released, again drawn inside to his mana source. The flame responded to the coolness by burning stronger.

His body temperature rose. As he breathed out, a cool mist could be seen as the temperature in the room dropped with each breath. The stone slowly shrunk until it was gone. A slight frost coated everything at the far side of the room. Closest to him was condensation.

He closed his mouth and reached to the pile, pulling out a simple ring. He frowned. “How do I consume this?”

He tried pouring a bit of mana into the ring. The metal band grew hot to the touch. It melted, not burning as the liquid metal entered through his fingers. The hotness went up his arm to his chest and joined the growing flame. “Phew. That wasn’t too bad.”

He reached in and pulled out a two-leaved sprout. The top of the leaves were orange and purple underneath. He squinted at it, distrust building. “You better not be poisonous.” He popped it into his mouth and chewed. The plant melted, it’s energy spreading through his body.

A horrible itch grew all over inside and out. He gritted his teeth, hoping it would pass quickly. Time seemed to drag on as the energy ever so slowly went to the flame. A soft tickle followed and he screeched, scratching everywhere he could. After a few minutes, the horrible battle ended.

Artien panted, his body aching. “This sucks. Cheating sucks!”

He eyed the door hatefully. With a little bit of fear, he reached into the pile. He pulled out the violet pearl. He poured mana into it. The pearl glowed and became smoke. The smoke coalesced into the form of a purple, violent dragon.

It turned against him, roaring power. A force of mana flew against him, threating to eat him. “This is backwards!” He yelled, throwing raw mana in return.

The dragon roared frantically as it fought. With each roar the mana increased. When Artien thought he was about to be overwhelmed, there was a loud ‘pop’. The dragon vanished, leaving only a thick purple mist.

He began breathing in the mist. The thickness chocked him. He drew it in regardless, finding it hard to breathe. His flame jumped higher, becoming a bon fire. It roared, hungry. It feasted on the purple energy and grew ever bigger.

He chocked again, still struggling to breathe. Tears cornered his eyes. “This sucks.”

Outside the small room, Little Green raced back and forth. She traveled through the tunnels, knowing them like the scales on her back. She would spy a minion, then take another tunnel to come up from behind. She ambushed as often as possible, then consumed the minion’s core before dragging the body back to the central cave.

Seora ate the minions, hoping to gain some respite from her pain.

The small bits of energy gave her only a little relief. She knew her time was coming to an end quickly. “I must not pass until the children are safely away.”

She hung on, desperate to know that they escaped. She used a little mana left to feel out the surroundings and track which tunnels held enemies for Little Green to hunt. She guided her daughter, teaching her to hunt in the dark. Little Green returned with yet another kill.

“Mother, I’m getting tired.”

“Continue. We are now buying time for Artien to finish. You can sleep while he carries you away. He will be faster than you soon enough.”

“Yes, mother.”

“Now go down this tunnel. Three are coming. You may lead them here if you must. I will eat them directly if needed.”

“Yes!” Little Green sped off.

Seora let out a long breath. “Artien, you must hurry.” She whispered to herself.

Inside the little sealed off room, Artien continued to consume the treasures at an increasing rate. Some of the treasures he loved, and some he cursed. His bon fire had grown into a raging inferno. He felt almost stuffed of energy. His body shining with it.

“I better not implode.”

He reached for a small figuring of a cat. It’s eyes shined when he poured mana into it. The cat melted into a foggy form and raced inside his chest. He slammed back against the cave wall as the cat pounced on the flame. It swiped, taking the flame and eating it. The flame roared in anger, surrounding the cat.

Unable to escape, the cat was burned down to nothing. The flame jumped in triumph, taking on some kind of shape. It began to swirl, slowly becoming a fire-tornado. Artien watched what went on inside, in shock.

Before him, the small hill of treasure had decreased by half. He shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”

He reached back in, using both hands to hold a treasure in each. He poured mana, allowing the treasures to be absorbed into his mana stream and circulate into his fire. This way his time increased. He also had two tornados to feed. As soon as the treasures were devoured, he reached for more.

Some treasures were easily absorbed. A few fought back. One even whispered dark secrets to him, trying to distract him. Another item was cursed. Luckly, the fire inside burned it clean before consuming it. As he went through the pile, he became slightly sickened at the usage.

Treasures were supposed to be valued. Not eaten like candy. Still, it was needed and he was grateful for the chance to get stronger faster. Especially because of that white ape.

Feeling his resolve strengthen, he forced the energies to pull directly from the treasures instead of absorbing them two at a time. The raging fire inside split again and again, creating dozens of fire tornados. The pile shrank rapidly. Soon, only one treasure remained. He physically reached out and picked it up.

A small dagger with a strange feeling to it. He poured mana into it regardless. The dagger shuddered, then turned into countless white blades that shot inside. The flame tornadoes fought back, each one taking on a white blade. The fire tornadoes surrounded the blades of light, weakening them until they could be consumed.

The blades were eaten and a small cry was heard. The flames joined together, jumping into each other to form a sea of raging flames. The fullness Artien felt grew until he grew dizzy. The fires suddenly roared high, seeking to erupt. He withdrew inside, fighting his own flames down.

The flames shuddered in response, then conceded. They shrank and converged back into a single flame. The flame turned from orange to red, then darker still to purple, then blue. A small dark blue flame flickered.

Artien sighed heavily in response.

“That’s it, I’m done!”

He crawled up to the door and banged on it. “I’m done!”

A few minutes passed before the stone door slid open. He crawled out of the room and sprawled on the ground. His eyes were drawn to the mountain of treasure and he looked at it in disgust. “I’m done with you!” He yelled at the gold and gems.

Little Green’s face popped over his. “We need to go see mother. But before that.” Little Green opened her mouth towards the treasure.

A huge suction force drew the treasures towards her. They shrank as they got close. Within seconds the whole room was empty.

Artien looked at her in shock. “Remind me to not leave you hungry.”

Artien groaned and climbed to his feet. He made it to Seora before laying back down. He flopped back, Little Green looking at him in confusion. Across their connection she only got a feeling of having completed a dirty task.

Seora scanned him, her eyes lighting. “This is good. There is enough mana to last you a long run.”

“Long run?”

“Yes. You will need to flee soon. Little Green, did you get your inheritance?”

“I did.” She bobbed her head up and down.

Seora looked at the cave ceiling. “Now, we wait.”

Three days passed before there was any movement outside the cave system. They were all conversing on different situations when the ground and walls trembled. Bits of dirt fell from the ceiling as large explosions were heard. After a bit of silence, a loud male voice roared.

“Snake, get out here! You old skin! I’m going to kill you!”